What I Want in A Family Vacation--And a chance to win a FREE CRUISE!!! I'm serious.

We're heading out on a little family vacation soon. I'm excited. Very excited. We're driving to our destination and I cannot wait to get in the car and cruise! April has been less than stellar in Park City this year and I am not just craving a little fun in the sun, I NEED IT.

But that's the thing--family vacations. Are they really fun? Do you really get in the car, or the airplane, or to the resort or theme park and actually CRUISE? Or is it more of a lurching, fighting, exhausting, bickering, wallet-draining experience? I would love to set my family vacation at a comfortable, relaxed speed and sit back while it cruises along like a finely oiled machine. I could enjoy my kids, enjoy the scenery, and not stress about planning and budgeting and the million other things that go along with kids and traveling. So we'll see how our upcoming trip turns out. I'll let you know how much of it felt like cruising and how much of it felt like pulling a handcart full of poopy, whining children.

I have a feeling it is actually going to be great. We're meeting up with all of my siblings in a warm place with a pool and hot tub and plenty of activities. And my brother from Boston, who is a gourmet chef, will be cooking plenty of insanely great food so that usually tips the scales to the side of AWESOME. (And yes, he was just in the MIDDLE of everything going on with the marathon bombings. Crazy stories for another day.)

(if my brother cooks anything like he plays the drums/sings...you can guess how DELISH)

When planning this trip, there were several factors that went into it. We wanted to go someplace warm. That was #1. We wanted to be OUTSIDE with the kids. No more meeting up in Utah for Christmas in the dead of winter. It needed to be in a destination that was affordable for everyone to fly into. But more importantly than that, we needed a really great place to stay that would accommodate everyone. (4 kids in my family and we each have a spouse. That's 8 adults. And between the 4 couples we have 8 kids.) We found a really great house to rent with a pool and hot tub, badminton court, and BBQ grill. Let the good times roll! Food is a big factor in the Bice family.

But here's a thought: what if you could truly, entirely, and literally cruise with your family? I'm talking the open seas. Have you ever gone on a cruise? I haven't! I've always wanted to. (I've always wanted to be a performer on a cruise ship and have had SEVERAL friends do just that. Have I missed the boat? Am I too old now?) But I digress. I'm here to tell you that Norwegian Cruise Line has a youth program for kids and I'm kind of dying to let Peter experience it. A mother can dream, right? They have teamed with Nickelodeon and created some really cool stuff for kids and teens on the ship!

It really would be nice to take time away from the stress of everyday life, get on a beautiful cruise ship, not worry about meals or cooking, AND to have built-in, hands-on, creative, engaging activities for my kids. I mean...they have circus school! How cool is that? (Back to that dreaming thing...every mother has dreamed of their son being a clown...amiright?) Along with circus school, they have all sorts of sporting activities and events, pools, slides, Nickelodeon events, and even great counselors for the kids. I think when it is our turn to plan the Jackson Family reunion with Vic's siblings, we'll hit up Norwegian Cruise Line for their youth program alone. (We have like 12 more years until it is our turn since we do it every other year and it started with the youngest child of 7. Vic is the oldest, so....start saving up!)

For more information about Norwegian's family vacation experience, click here.

What is your dream vacation for your family? Answer in the comments below for a chance to win a cruise voucher for a family of four!

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Entries from all participating blogs will be pooled for winner selection; only two entries per household. This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected. The Official Rules are available here. This sweepstakes runs from 5/7/2013-6/2/2013. Be sure to visit Norwegian Cruise Line's brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!

Our dream is to plan a vacation that allows us to have some fun & give our kids unique experiences that they will remember forever. BUT those experiences must be coupled with a chance to give back. We are actually planning a cruise this Christmas. the plan is that at one of the ports we will not do all the beaching, ziplines, or other awesome looking shore excursions. Instead we will meet up with a charitable organization in that city and bring a suitcase or 2 of items in need to children in need. We will spend the rest of this year contacting organizations to see what the needs are and gathering those supplies locally. We won't have much time in the port to do any service, so this process will allow us to do most of the work before the cruise and just make deliveries once we're at the port. We're hoping this simple combination of fun and giving will be a way to get something AND give something. Sure would be nice if Norwegian Cruise Lines sponsored this vacation by letting us win! ;)

Ummmm....of course YOU and Vince would think to do this. This is amazing! I love this! They would be foolish not to choose you! You could blog about your experience and it would be a win-win for everyone involved. Oh, the possibilities are endless. This is really genius. Just one more reason I love you guys. I want to help in anyway that I can. Please let me know!

Round the world! I homeschool my kids, so the furthest reaches of the world excite me as they would make epic field trips! Iceland? Yes! Bolivia? Yes! Touristy hot spots are fine and can be fun to visit, but I'm also interested in places that are off the beaten path and put is in line with humanity.

Our dream vacation would be going to Hawaii as a family ….. exploring those nature beauties that God created, learning some local culture and of course just relaxing and have a good time as a family. Thanks for the great giveaway!

Our dream vacation could be anywhere! Since we do not live near family, most of our family vacations are spent visiting family (not necessarily a bad thing, I know). But I feel like we just don't get opportunities to have too many real adventures, and that makes me sad for our kids. And if we do happen to go have an adventure somewhere, I get guilt tripped by one family member after another that we didn't go visit them instead!

A Hawaiian cruise would be my dream for my family. I have always wanted to explore the islands with my husband. He is working 2 full-time jobs and going to school right now and a relaxing cruise sounds just like heaven right now. Wouldn't that be the best surprise EVER!?

My dream vacation for the family would be to go somewhere warm, sandy, and with no worries. I would love to win this. I just graduated from College with my BSN and needless to say...we need a vacation!

Crazy, but as an adult I've never taken a vacation. I lived across the country from my family, so all trips/vacations were just trips home to see the family. I'd love to do something different, and its a life dream to go to Alaska. Win win!

My husband and I went on a weekend getaway to Park City over 10 years ago when we were newlyweds and I have been thinking lately about how I would love to go back! That sounds like a good vacation to me! Also, my daughter and I talk about our dream to go on a trip to all the Little House on the Prairie sites. At this point, a family vacation to any destination sounds like fun since we have never been on a real family vacation! Keep waiting for that raise...

Ireland for me and Spain for my husband. Together with my family.=) I just found your blog. Incredible and amazing. I shared it with my best friend who had a stillborn over two years and is seriously struggling. I moved from Las Vegas to Iowa last year and it has been hard on her. I hope she will have an open heart to your wonderful words of wisdom. PS. Love your adorable hair cut!!

This would be a dream vacation for us! We never had a honeymoon (it's a long story in which our home burned down right after our wedding). We always said we would do it later, but now have so much anxiety over leaving the kids, that we have never taken a trip together in eleven years of marriage. This would solve both problems! Fingers crossed. :)

not sure if it showed and I cant see my post but here it is https://twitter.com/Sheafish2004 I tweeted. We would love to go any where!!!! We havent been on a vacation for a long time 6 yrs. We have had stay vacations in UT and visiting Idaho but that is really it lol

I have always wanted to see the Panama Canal! My family says our ancestry stems from the region, so I would love the chance for myself and my family to see a place so near and dear to our history. The Bahamas have always been on my bucket list as well!